Author's notes for 'Between Canons: Not Fade Away.'
For anyone who might have found this ficlet somewhat cryptic...
Firstly, the quote I used, but in full. It's the Doctor talking to a Dalek that fell out of time, and doesn't know what happened:
DALEK: I am a soldier. I was bred to receive orders.
THE DOCTOR: Well you're never gonna get any. Not ever.
DALEK: I demand orders!
THE DOCTOR (voice rising): They're never gonna come! Your race is dead! You all burnt, all of you. Ten million ships on fire - the entire Dalek race wiped out in one second.
DALEK: You lie!
THE DOCTOR: I watched it happen. I MADE it happen!
DALEK: You destroyed us?
The Doctor's expression changes. He walks away, his back turned on the Dalek.
THE DOCTOR (quietly): I had no choice.
DALEK: And what of the Time Lords?
THE DOCTOR: Dead. They burnt with you. The end of the last great Time War*. Everyone lost.
Now one major problem with trying to get BtVS and DW to fit togther is the almost casual dimension jumping in the former, something that is *impossible* in the latter. (Well more or less, but it’s something that shouldn’t be possible.)
But I remembered a conversation between Mickey and the Doctor when they accidentally fell through the void (the space between dimensions) into a different world, and Mickey questioned the Doctor’s worry:
Mickey: But... I've seen it in comics. People are hopping from one alternative world to another - it's easy.
The Doctor (withering look): Not in the real world. (pause) Used to be easy. When the Time Lords kept their eye on everything, you could hop between realities, home in time for tea. Then they died, took it all with them. The walls of reality closed, the worlds were sealed. Everything became that bit less kind.
This makes clear that it *was* possible, so all we have to assume is that BtVS/AtS took place before the (last) Time War.
And what better time for this sealing of dimensions than NFA? It would stop the Powers’ plan to destroy the Circle of the Black Thorn from being just a temporary measure against the Senior Partners’ apocalypse, but a permanent destruction of W&H’s main tool of world destruction. And we know that they live on a different plane/reality, so the sealing of dimensions would affect them too. (Why yes, I felt very clever when I thought of it! *g*) Also, whether they live or die, team Angel’s efforts would not be in vain!
And it seemed logical that Illyria would be able to sense something on such a scale, although she’d not know exactly what had happened.
ETA: Forgot to mention that I thought the premise would work well with my 'The Slayers die out in the 21st Century' theory. If the threat of hell dimensions (& hellmouths) is eliminated, the number of demons finite, this leaves only vampires as a major threat. And with an army of Slayers, vampires could probably be wiped out completely. (I figure that the demons would over time become more accepted by humanity, esp. if aliens became commonplace, and in time their origin - whatever it might be - would be lost.)
Finally - from a structural and writerly perspective I like ending on 'You win', as it contrasted beautifully with the Doctor's 'Everyone lost' in the quote. In this interpretation something good *does* come out of the Doctor's actions.
(Oh and re the banner then I know that it wasn't the Tenth Doctor who ended the Time War, but he is the most well known.)
* The Time War: The Doctor: There was a war. A Time War. The last Great Time War. My people fought a race called the Daleks, for the sake of all creation. And they lost. They lost. Everyone lost.
Firstly, the quote I used, but in full. It's the Doctor talking to a Dalek that fell out of time, and doesn't know what happened:
DALEK: I am a soldier. I was bred to receive orders.
THE DOCTOR: Well you're never gonna get any. Not ever.
DALEK: I demand orders!
THE DOCTOR (voice rising): They're never gonna come! Your race is dead! You all burnt, all of you. Ten million ships on fire - the entire Dalek race wiped out in one second.
DALEK: You lie!
THE DOCTOR: I watched it happen. I MADE it happen!
DALEK: You destroyed us?
The Doctor's expression changes. He walks away, his back turned on the Dalek.
THE DOCTOR (quietly): I had no choice.
DALEK: And what of the Time Lords?
THE DOCTOR: Dead. They burnt with you. The end of the last great Time War*. Everyone lost.
Now one major problem with trying to get BtVS and DW to fit togther is the almost casual dimension jumping in the former, something that is *impossible* in the latter. (Well more or less, but it’s something that shouldn’t be possible.)
But I remembered a conversation between Mickey and the Doctor when they accidentally fell through the void (the space between dimensions) into a different world, and Mickey questioned the Doctor’s worry:
Mickey: But... I've seen it in comics. People are hopping from one alternative world to another - it's easy.
The Doctor (withering look): Not in the real world. (pause) Used to be easy. When the Time Lords kept their eye on everything, you could hop between realities, home in time for tea. Then they died, took it all with them. The walls of reality closed, the worlds were sealed. Everything became that bit less kind.
This makes clear that it *was* possible, so all we have to assume is that BtVS/AtS took place before the (last) Time War.
And what better time for this sealing of dimensions than NFA? It would stop the Powers’ plan to destroy the Circle of the Black Thorn from being just a temporary measure against the Senior Partners’ apocalypse, but a permanent destruction of W&H’s main tool of world destruction. And we know that they live on a different plane/reality, so the sealing of dimensions would affect them too. (Why yes, I felt very clever when I thought of it! *g*) Also, whether they live or die, team Angel’s efforts would not be in vain!
And it seemed logical that Illyria would be able to sense something on such a scale, although she’d not know exactly what had happened.
ETA: Forgot to mention that I thought the premise would work well with my 'The Slayers die out in the 21st Century' theory. If the threat of hell dimensions (& hellmouths) is eliminated, the number of demons finite, this leaves only vampires as a major threat. And with an army of Slayers, vampires could probably be wiped out completely. (I figure that the demons would over time become more accepted by humanity, esp. if aliens became commonplace, and in time their origin - whatever it might be - would be lost.)
Finally - from a structural and writerly perspective I like ending on 'You win', as it contrasted beautifully with the Doctor's 'Everyone lost' in the quote. In this interpretation something good *does* come out of the Doctor's actions.
(Oh and re the banner then I know that it wasn't the Tenth Doctor who ended the Time War, but he is the most well known.)
* The Time War: The Doctor: There was a war. A Time War. The last Great Time War. My people fought a race called the Daleks, for the sake of all creation. And they lost. They lost. Everyone lost.